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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by looking4hope on June 26, 2005, at 22:12:20
sorry for all the questions tonight :(
another thing i was wondering:
has anyone ever had a friend/family member call your T because they were concerned about you?
what was the outcome?
did your T talk with them? (especially with HIPAA regulations.)
did your T tell you that they called?
did anything happen as a result of the call to your T (ie, did you T call you to see if everything was ok?)
Posted by happyflower on June 26, 2005, at 22:19:47
In reply to someone else calls T, posted by looking4hope on June 26, 2005, at 22:12:20
Yes, my husband called my T after my EMDR recovered some really bad memories. I cried so hard, so many hours. He was worried because I said I never want to see DR. B again. I just couldn't take the pain. Well he called him the next morning and left my T a message. My T called back to DH but got his voice mail at work and left a message that he would call me. My T called me right away and wanted to see me that day to calm me down.
He later told me he with my permission he would talk to my DH if it was okay with me. But my T won't bring up anything we talk about it, unless my husband brings it up. He said he might not tell my husband anything if we feels it wouldn't be good, but he said that he would listen to what my husband wanted to tell him. I was upset that my husband called my T , without giving me a chance to reach out to my T myself.
Posted by Shortelise on June 26, 2005, at 23:41:25
In reply to someone else calls T, posted by looking4hope on June 26, 2005, at 22:12:20
Yes, my husband. My T called me and asked if it was ok to takl with him and I sais yes.
Posted by fallsfall on June 27, 2005, at 13:21:06
In reply to someone else calls T, posted by looking4hope on June 26, 2005, at 22:12:20
A friend who was staying with us called my therapist. My therapist told me that she had called and that she was worried about me (I think I had an appointment with my therapist that day anyway).
I have asked a friend to let me come in to her session for a minute (this is usually part of a bargain where I won't take her to the hospital the night before if she will let me make sure her therapist knows what is going on). I have sent a letter to a friend's therapist. And even sent a letter to a pdoc in the hospital (who was my pdoc when I was in that same hospital - and then I talked with the pdoc and friend together when I visited her). I also called a therapist of a friend and left a message (but didn't speak to the therapist).
Gee, sounds like I'm a busybody, doesn't it? Maybe I am.
Mu friends haven't always been thrilled with me at the time, but they all know that I've done it because I care about them. And none are still mad at me. I don't regret the times I've done it, but in one case, I should have talked to my friend and warned her that I was worried enough to call.
I wouldn't expect someone else's therapist to talk to me individually. I expect the communication to go just from me to them. And then I trust the therapist to handle it from there. I wouldn't ask someone else's therapist anything about them. I've always felt that the therapists have taken my concern seriously.
Posted by 10derHeart on June 27, 2005, at 13:37:59
In reply to Re: someone else calls T » looking4hope, posted by fallsfall on June 27, 2005, at 13:21:06
I would be honored and blessed to have a friend like you, falls.
Just reading the way you describe those situations with others makes me feel safe and cared about :-)
Posted by Emily Elizabeth on June 27, 2005, at 16:07:20
In reply to someone else calls T, posted by looking4hope on June 26, 2005, at 22:12:20
On a related note, it can be helpful if you are having a very hard time to have an appointment/meeting w/ your spouse/partner and T. T can help provide info on how the other person can support you and the other person can provide info to the T on what they have seen at home. And if you are there too it won't feel like a "behind your back" situation. Some T's and some clients don't feel comfortable with this, but it does work for some folks. It also can be helpful (and less controversial) at pdoc appts. Just in case it helps, I thought I'd throw it out there.
EE
Posted by shrinking violet on June 27, 2005, at 19:34:28
In reply to someone else calls T, posted by looking4hope on June 26, 2005, at 22:12:20
> sorry for all the questions tonight :(
--that's ok, don't apologize. :-)
> another thing i was wondering:
> has anyone ever had a friend/family member call your T because they were concerned about you?--not exactly, but a (online) friend emailed my T twice because she was concerned I was suicidal. She was right, but I played it down to my T.
> what was the outcome?
--The first time, I was seeing my T for a session that morning anyway, so my T told me about it, and asked me whether it was valid. I played it off as my friend projecting her stuff onto me, etc. She told me not to be angry with my friend. I was at first, but mostly b/c she hadn't told me she had done it, and that she had bothered my T. The second time, my T was out of town, so she had the director call me. I was going through a phase of not answering the phone, so my T then told him to come by my apartment to check on me, which he did, and again I told him I was fine (I wasn't). This time I was more furious with my friend, because she did it AGAIN without telling me, and I was afraid my T would think I was somehow manipulating the situation. We never discussed it directly; I think by that time my T figured I was crying wolf since it was very close to my final session with her. I wasn't...I had a plan, a date set, etc, but that's beside the point.
> did your T talk with them? (especially with HIPAA regulations.)
--no, my T said she couldn't email her back or talk to her in any way since there was no release in place for her to do so. My T allowed me to use her computer to email my friend so she would know that my T received her email and was talking with me.
> did your T tell you that they called?Yes, both times I found out my friend emailed her (I wish I had heard it from my friend though!).
> did anything happen as a result of the call to your T (ie, did you T call you to see if everything was ok?)The first time I was seeing her that morning anyway, and she spent most of the time trying to figure out whether my friend's concerns were valid ones, and my tap dancing around the issue and trying to reassure her. The second time, as I said, she was out of town so I didnt have direct contact with her, but the director contacted me and told me my friend had emailed her again, and he pretty much did the same thing my T did, trying to assess whether or not I was suicidal.
I hope this helped? I hope everything is okay with you...(sorry, I haven't yet read the responses to this post, so I apologize if I'm missing something that was already said).
sv
Posted by gardenergirl on June 27, 2005, at 19:53:17
In reply to Re: someone else calls T, posted by shrinking violet on June 27, 2005, at 19:34:28
Hi, good questions.
From the perspective of someone who works with clients...we are trained that we cannot discuss a client with someone else, even a friend or famly member, without a signed consent in place.If someone were to call, we are taught to listen while not acknowledging that the person being discussed is a client. It's okay to gain info. this way, but you cannot give info. out. And I believe in telling the client about the call, although I suppose there are times when the caller's safety might be an issue if discovered.
This has rarely happened in my short experience.
gg
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